Thursday, June 10, 2010

Korean singer Park Jae-beom, who was scheduled to fly into Korea next Monday to start shooting the b-boy pic "Hype Nation," has delayed his return to the country.

In a phone call with Asia Economic Daily on Wednesday, a source related to the film said that Park will not be able to arrive in Seoul on June 14 as he had originally planned, adding "the exact date has not been set" regarding his return.

"Something suddenly came up in New York, so the delay was inevitable," the source was quoted as saying. "The work schedule for the movie has been set as of now."

He also explained that "it hasn't been decided yet" whether Park will hold a press conference when he arrives in Korea.

Park, 23, is a Korean-American singer who debuted as the leader of boy band 2PM which quickly became one of the most popular K-pop acts in the country.

However, his music career in Korea came to an abrupt end last September when it was revealed that he had written several controversial remarks -- including "I hate Korea" -- on his MySpace pages during his teenage years as a trainee at agency JYP Entertainment (JYPE).

The matter caused an uproar around the country, leading to Park quitting the band and leaving Korea four days after his old comments surfaced on the Internet.

He was expected to rejoin the group and make a comeback the local music scene this year, but JYPE announced in February that it had decided to terminate its exclusive contract with the singer due to "a huge wrongdoing" that he had committed in his personal life.

Park had been staying in the U.S. since, dancing with his b-boy crew Art of Movement and preparing for a debut in the American pop market through collaborations with hip-hop artist Dumbfoundead and noted record producer Teddy Riley.

He is set to play the male lead in the film "Nation", 70 percent of which will be shot in Korea. The female lead has yet to be announced.